The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.66 (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 21st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has increased its dividend by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a payout ratio of 62.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $4.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.0 %

SMG traded down $0.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,003,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,992. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -110.48 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.38.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.